Shekinah

Shekinah, a new dark comedy by Charles Case, revolves around the tragic, humorous and desperate lives of early twentieth century spiritualists. People who lost loved-ones to WWI or a child to polio made especially easy prey for these practitioners of mystic bunkum, who would abuse the desperate and those whose desperation made them blind.

The setting is 1919 Chicago. Billie and Henry have been on the con for a long time when they meet the ultimate mark: a wealthy doctor clinging to his belief in ghosts as his last hope to be a father to his dead son. The craft and mendacity of the threesome are matched against the intelligence and rational humanity of the doctor, who invites Billie Dove to live in his home and channel his ten-year-old son. Abandoning her accomplices, Billie ends up playing governess and caretaker to a thought, a wisp of air and lingering love.